


Episode 31: Maceon's Request

by PitoyaPTx



Series: Clan Meso'a [31]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Mandalorian, Mandalorian Culture, Old Friends, Tatooine (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 19:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,154
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20431547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PitoyaPTx/pseuds/PitoyaPTx
Summary: "Ancient history doesn't sound so ancient, vod." ~BeonMaceon is a good listener, albeit not Beon's first choice.





	Episode 31: Maceon's Request

“The Mandalorians??” Hugh raged over the holo.   
Cara winced, “They took care of me, Da, I’ll be home soon.”  
“You’d better, and don’t say a word to them again! Not without my permission!”   
He jammed a stubby finger into the console and killed the transmission.   
“So,” Leata chuckled, “There are Mandalorians here? Looking after little Cara?”  
“Please,” Hugh’s anger evaporated, “You’ve already taken my wife, leave Cara alone!”   
Leata picked a chunk of jerky from between her teeth with her claw-like fingernails, her red eyes glowing like tail-lights on a luxury cruiseliner.   
“I can be...persuaded to let her live, I mean,” she chuckled, “She’s far prettier than Jan ever was. Could make a profit off of her.”  
“You can’t!” Hugh pleaded, “She’s too young, she’d be-”  
Leata sat up straight, her visage that of a madwoman drunk with power, “Can’t? Heh I can do whatever I want! In fact, I think I’ll collect now.”   
Hugh staggered backwards as her bodyguards, most concealed in the dark shadows near the walls, closed in around him.   
“No..no no no, I’ve given you everything! Ple-” 

“Do you want us to come with you?” Beon asked, helping Cara up into the speeder.   
The moon had barely crested over the dunes when they awoke to the sound of Hugh berating her over the holo.   
She shook her head, “He wouldn’t want you there and besides, I have some sewing to do before he gets back.”   
“Where is he?” Fent asked.   
“Leaving to check the vaporators, I think,” she shrugged, “Said he got back a few hours ago and got an alert that one of them was damaged or something. He...rushed through that bit.”   
Her shoulders managed to drop lower than Beon thought was possible; he made to put a hand on one, but she turned to the passenger’s side and pushed the bag of candies down into the netting on the side panel.   
“Thank you,” she smiled up at them even though moisture was collecting in the corners of her eyes.   
Both hunters nodded, again at a loss for words.   
“She’s scared,” Fent said over the comm.   
“Not just of her father,” said Beon, fingers closing around his blaster before he caught himself.   
“Easy vod,” Fent put a hand on his.   
Thankfully Cara didn’t notice the exchange, instead keying on the ignition and backing out from under the speederport.   
“Let us know if-” but Cara was already beyond the first set of dunes when Beon turned back to her, “I don’t like her traveling exposed like that at night.”   
“She’s more afraid of him than she is of offending us,” Fent crossed his arms and shook his head.   
Beon fornwed behind his visor, “Kids shouldn’t be afraid of their parents.”   
Fent shrugged, then yawned: “I’m going to get some sleep. I’ll send another report to Jiik later.”   
“Better power off that jammer, then.”  
“She left it?”  
Beon nodded and pointed to the green device still under their holotable.   
“Ah, yeah, well,” Fent picked it up and tossed it in the air a few times, “I’ll give it back to them later.”   
“I guess you forgetting to treat the water was a blessing in disguise,” Beon forced a chuckle, dodging the device as it soared across the room at him. 

“But the next time you saw her was-”  
“Yeah,” said Beon, idly swirling his caf with a metal straw.   
Maceon watched him like a scientist waiting for an experiment to explode in their face. When he said nothing, she realized how long it had been since she’d last seen him. Young Beon might have said what was on his mind, might have balled up his fists and blurted it out. Older Beon, well, Maceon had never met a less talkative person. He was reserved, screwed up even, like a carbonated drink shaken up but never opened. Kinda like Beun, she thought. She drummed the table with her fingers and rocked back in her chair.   
“So, was it at least helpful to talk to me about it?” She gestured out at nothing. He nodded but didn’t speak or give any indication that he was fully paying attention.  
Maceon sighed and shook her head, “You know what time it is, vod?”  
“You have insomnia,” he replied, his voice flat.   
“Yes but I’ve had a long day,” she rested her head on her chin and nodded towards her bed, “I’m a bit sore.”  
“You should sleep then,” he let go of the straw which clinked dully against the side of the mug, then pushed back his chair and got up.   
Maceon hung her head, “Your head’s thicker than you kama.”   
“Maybe,” was all he said as he pushed the door controls.   
“Wait,” Maceon got up, “I didn’t..you know I’m not-”  
“I know,” he looked over his shoulder, fixing her with his amber eyes. They were never as vibrant a Beun’s but in that moment, Maceon knew something was burning behind them.   
“Come back,” she stood, gesturing to his chair, “Let’s talk some more. I think you need it.”   
He eyed her suspiciously, “No more bed talk?”  
“No more bed talk,” she nodded, “Show me the pectoral again? Something about the symbol on the back looked familiar.”   
Beon slid back down into the chair and pulled up the recording of their conversation with Jiik. Maceon reached forward and spun the image around so the back was visible. Between the beaded lines separating large, sewn glyphs and the white plumes making up the shoulders, there was a large glyph that looked like a cross-eyes, mouthless face with thick eyebrows. There were short, gold bars sewn into the center of each brow and across the bridge of the nose, but why was either hunter’s guess.   
“I think I’ve seen that before,” Maceon said again, tapping her lip with the tips of her  
fingers, “but I can’t think of where.”   
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Beon sipped his lukewarm caf, “But Jiik says he’ll do what he can. Maybe he knows what clan it came from.”   
Maceon’s eyes lit up, “He thinks it came from one of the clans?”  
“The tech they used on us did so...,” he shrugged.   
She sat back in her chair, eyes darting this way and that as if the new information changed everything, “I want to go with you tomorrow.”   
“Huh?”  
“Tomorrow, when you check out that wreck, I want to go with you.”   
“Is that a good idea? I mean you and Beun-”  
“Ancient history,” she swatted the air, “Besides, I was just giving Fent a hard time. They’re a cute couple.”  
That last bit was forced on her part, but she was glad Beon didn’t comment on it. Although, his raised eyebrow made her cheeks flush.   
“I promise, Beon, I won’t cause trouble.”   
“I know you won’t. Beun wouldn’t let you.”   
Maceon smirked, but she snapped back to reality before her thoughts could wander any further.


End file.
